Physeal fractures of the distal tibia and fibula are common and can be seen at any age, although most are seen in the adolescent. An understanding of the unique anatomy of the skeletally immature ankle in relation to the mechanism of injury will help one understand the injury patterns seen in this population. A thorough clinical exam is critical to the diagnosis and treatment of these injuries and the avoidance of potentially catastrophic complications. Nondisplaced physeal fractures of the distal tibia and fibula can be safely treated nonoperatively...

BACKGROUND: A retrospective review of 124 patients was undertaken to determine the incidence of physeal growth arrest (premature physeal closure [PPC]) after physeal fractures of the distal end of the tibia in children. We also sought to identify clinical predictors of PPC. METHODS: We defined PPC as radiographic evidence of physeal closure as compared to the uninjured side in this patient population. We reviewed the charts of 124 pediatric patients with distal tibia physeal fractures...

Nine rotational injuries of the distal tibial growth plate in combination with spiral fracture of the fibula were treated in our department between 1993 and 2000. The average age of the patients was 12 years. The injury was a result of sudden, forceful external rotation of the ankle and foot. Pain and slight swelling of the ankle and external rotation of the distal tibia of 20 degrees -40 degrees were present. Radiologically, irregularity and widening of the growth plate of the distal tibia were obvious. In all these cases we noted, on lateral views, the characteristic sign of an "open fish mouth," due to the changes in the shape of the physeal plate...

Fractures of the distal end of the tibia in children often involve the physis. They are of particular importance because partial growth arrest can occur and result in angular deformity, limb-length discrepancy, or incongruity of the joint surface (or a combination of these). We evaluated the cases of thirty-two children who had a fracture leading to established partial growth arrest of the distal end of the tibia. Most of this group had had a Salter-Harris Type-III or Type-IV fracture. Twenty-eight of the fractures had been treated by gentle closed reduction and immobilization in a plaster cast...

Fifty-six patients with Salter-Harris type II physeal fractures of the distal tibia were treated with a weight-bearing long leg cast for 4 weeks. Forty patients were followed clinically and radiographically for an average of 22 months. There were no nonunions or angular deformities. There was one case of clinically insignificant premature physeal closure. Premature physeal closure results from the trauma to the physis that occurs at the time of injury and is not affected by early weight-bearing. Four weeks of immobilization in a long leg weight-bearing cast allows adequate healing and faster rehabilitation without an adverse effect on the growth of the distal tibia...